This Time, They Fired the Right Guy

Last week, NPR reported that the Army's initial response to the Walter Reed scandal didn't go down well with the troops:

But several former Army officials who have worked at Walter Reed — which Lt. Gen. Kiley ran in a previous stint that ended in 2004 — say he has known about the problems at the hospital since 2003.
And even last week, as the Pentagon promised swift action, Lt. Gen. Kiley was publicly blasting The Washington Post for what he called "one-sided reporting."
So the decision to have Lt. Gen. Kiley lead Walter Reed in the interim has left some senior Pentagon officials fuming. One said, in private, "they fired the wrong guy and promoted the wrong guy."

Today, as the New York Times and the rest of the world are reporting, Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired the right guy. General Kiley had replaced Maj. Gen. George Weightman, who had been in command at Walter Reed for only six months.
Who engineered such a boneheaded shuffling of the nameplates? That would be the now former Army Secretary, Francis Harvey, who resigned a day after this display of bad judgement, his next to last as it turned out. Think Progress has reported that Mr. Harvey did not choose to go quietly:
Not content to be unceremoniously dumped, Mr. Harvey treated himself to a farewell extravaganza on Friday that added insult to injury for those who have suffered from his neglect.

While his send-off may be memorable, the Army didn't waste time deleting his bio from its Website. This is what the Google search for former Army Secretary Harvey turned up:

Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque via Think Progress